


Spiral

by faintof



Series: Like Sour Candy [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Angst, Gen, How Do I Tag, Injury, Physical Abuse, Sans Needs A Hug, Self-Esteem Issues, Verbal Abuse, i couldnt decide if it was a major injury or not, no happy ending, papyrus is more of a dick than necessary, sans is a mess, self-destructive thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 09:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10554184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faintof/pseuds/faintof
Summary: Sans just made a simple mistake.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I finally did it! Sorry it took a lot longer than expected...
> 
> This started out inspired by something that was actually happening (But none of the really bad stuff!) at that exact moment! Then it kept going...
> 
> First attempt at anything angstyyyy, lemme know how I did!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> (Also I don't know how to use apostrophes, sorryyyyyy)

Why did he have to be such a fuck up?  
  
Boss had merely asked him, almost nicely, to take the meat out of the freezer before he left for work. That was it.  
  
He'd been having a semi-decent day so far, only needing to threaten the teenagers away from his post once and only being threatened by the Dogi once at the start of his shift. He'd been doing his best to not fall asleep but it had been a solid five and a half hours and he was starting to get a bit too comfortable when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Grumbling, he pulled it out, sockets widening in fear as the screen notified him that he had a message from Boss. He took a moment to gather himself before flipping it open.  
  
>> I TOLD YOU TO TAKE OUT THE MEAT.  
  
Flipping the screen closed again, he slouched into the seat. Again? How many times did this have to happen before he would remember? How many punishments would he endure before he would stop messing up all the time? It wasn't like it was a difficult request or anything. There was no particular reason he hadn't done it. He'd just...forgotten. The phone buzzed in his hand. Eyes downcast, he read the latest message.  
  
>> COME BACK IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOUR SHIFT. IF YOU ARE EVEN A MINUTE LATE YOU'LL BE SLEEPING OUTSIDE.  
  
How late would be considered a minute late, he wondered as he shut the phone again. Not that it really mattered. Boss could decide early was late and all he could do was accept it. Why was he such a fuck up? One simple little thing and he couldn't even handle that. No wonder Boss needed to be strict with him, he clearly couldn't be trusted to do things on his own. Whatever happened tonight was his fault and his alone. Eyes focused somewhere in middle-distance, he wondered despondently if there were any way to somehow fix his mistake.  
  
Phone clenched in his hand, he rested his skull on the counter in front of him. Did he used to be so useless? He didn't think so. He used to take care of Boss, for heaven's sake! He protected him, fed him, patched him up after fights...hadn't he? Maybe had always been like this and Boss had just gotten more and more fed up the older he got. He hadn't really done a very good job of protecting him in any case, and the number of scars his brother still bore showed how much help he was when Boss was injured. Heck, he himself had given Boss the huge scar marring his eye socket. They'd had so little growing up on the streets of New Home, Sans thought giving his little brother everything and keeping nothing for himself would constitute caring for him, but he must have been wrong. Giving his own life, health and happiness for Boss' wasn't enough. Sans' life wasn't worth enough. The cursed phone buzzed again in his hand.  
  
>> NEXT TIME I WONT BOTHER ASKING YOU  
  
Sans let his head fall back to the counter with a clunk. Absolutely useless. He really couldn't do anything right, could he? Where would he be without Boss to take care of him? He glanced at the display screen again, only an hour before his shift would end.  
  
<< sorry boss   
  
No reply came. The remainder of his shift was spent in tense contemplation, wondering what would happen when he went home, how he could keep himself together through it, and reminding himself how much he deserved it. Thankfully, no one else tried to attack him in that time and before he was ready, it was time to head back. He slowly trudged away from his station, wary of arriving late but knowing that sleeping outside would be the least he deserved. He glanced longingly at Grillby's as he passed, nonexistent stomach upset at the lack of food in it. Or was he just nervous? Or a combination of the two?  
  
The walk home took a lot longer than expected but no where near long enough. If he could just have been a somewhat capable person, he wouldn't need to be feeling so terrible, he reminded himself. Hand on the doorknob, he heaved a sigh and steeled his nerves.  
  
It was open. He didn't know whether to be grateful or not. There was loud clattering coming from the kitchen. Perhaps he could slip into his room without his brother noticing. The thought was dashed as it occurred, the red of Papyrus' glove all he saw as he was backhanded suddenly. His eye lights flickered slightly, pain slow to register.  
  
"YOU RUINED DINNER, SO I THINK IT ONLY FAIR THAT YOU NOT PARTAKE IN TONIGHTS MEAL. FURTHERMORE YOU WILL STAY IN YOUR ROOM."  
  
Sans blinked, the need to snark overpowering his sense of self-preservation. "yes, mom." His eye sockets narrowed in defiance as a hand came up to rub at the quickly bruising bone. Before it could make contact, it was snatched out of the air. "hey!" Sans tugged and twisted, trying to free his hand from the steel trap that had caught it.  
  
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT?"  
  
"nothin'! leggo!" Regret already welling up, he tugged again, other hand trying to unwrap the fingers from his wrist. Papyrus' already threatening eyes narrowed further, grip tightening over the delicate wrist bones incrementally. Sans bit back a whimper.  
  
"YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO ME IN THAT MANNER, YOU USELESS WHELP." His grip tightened further, bones creaking together as the fingers flexed sporadically. Sans screwed his eyes shut. He had fucked up, this is what happens when you fuck up. The least he could do is take his punishment, but no, he was too weak for even that. A strained groan forced its way part his grin.  
  
Then with a crunch that echoed through his skull, the tiny bones gave way, snapping under the pressure. Sans howled. His hand was on fire. Hellfire raced up to his shoulder and back, leaving the rest of his body to be plunged into an icy river. He was frozen and burning and the pulling at his shoulder threatened to remove the entire arm from its socket. What was Boss even saying? Couldn't he see that Sans couldn't pay attention even if he wanted to. Couldn't he see that Sans' eyes had closed? It took another agonizing moment to realize he was the one making all the noise and he quickly tried to clamp his jaw shut, pained moans and whimpers still escaping.  
  
The burning slowly got more bearable, a cool haze of gray static had been slowly replacing his left arm, still trapped in Papyrus' grip. Unable to move, Sans gathered the strength to open his eyes. Immediately the lights and color made him nauseous, but he forced himself to look up at his ~~brother~~ Boss, tears gathered in the corners of his eyes, ready to fall. When he had fallen to his knees, he wasn't sure, but only Boss's hold on his now mangled hand held him upright.  
  
At Sans' teary gaze, Papyrus' grip loosened, bones shifting painfully in the absence of pressure before he dropped the hand as though it were something vile. Sans dragged it up to his chest, other hand floating protectively in front of it. A shocked expression passed over Papyrus' face, gone before Sans could notice. Sans' trembling increased (and when had that started happening?) the longer his brothers' silence lasted.  
  
"CLEAN THIS MESS UP. I HAD BETTER NOT HEAR YOU FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT OR I WILL BE QUITE UPSET." Papyrus finally said, an odd, low tone to his voice that Sans didn't have the capacity to analyze at the moment. Turning briskly, Papyrus made his way to his room, shutting the door quietly behind him.  
  
Wait, had Boss said something about cleaning? Eye lights flickering with exhaustion but feeling no more nausea, he looked at his hand and was startled to see the concentrated magic that ran through his bones was slowly dripping to the carpeting from the ruined hand. Son of a bitch, that was not going to be easy to clean up, not in his state. Still, orders are orders and Sans began mentally drafting a plan to finish quickly and relatively painlessly. Step one was probably to stop the spot from getting larger, so he gently tugged the hand into his jacket sleeve, more thankful than ever that it was too large on him. He shakily rose to his feet and went into the kitchen for a rag of some sort. Knowing he couldn't reach the top shelf where Papyrus kept the cleaners, Sans got the rag wet and made an attempt to scrub the red liquid from the carpet. He gave up quickly, remaining hand too stupid to scrub at anything with any amount of accuracy and really, his broken hand hurt too much to really care. Free of any external stimulus, his thoughts began to spiral again. Leaving the rag on the floor, he slowly trudged up to his room, closing the door quietly before falling onto his mattress, clothes and all. Shifting only to keep pressure off his hand, he quickly fell into a restless sleep.  
  
It was the first time Papyrus had seriously hurt him. His dreams were filled with visions of the next time.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Look forward to more in this universe....Eventually!
> 
> Tumblr? https://faintlyesque.tumblr.com/


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